Yeovil Town grabbed a home draw against Oldham Athletic this afternoon despite being reduced to ten men. New father Andy Welsh struck gold for the second time in 24 hours, as his goal five minutes from time levelled out Chris Taylor's opener, the day after he had announced his wife had given birth to a baby girl. Referee Trevor Kettle provided a sideshow, dismissing Luke Ayling for the second time this season, but the Glovers came back to draw the game to lift them up to 51 points.

Glovers boss Terry Skiverton selected the exact same squad that he picked for the midweek win over Carlisle United, with Oli Johnson playing in his final match for the club, before he heads back to Carrow Road. The start was a flat one from a Glovers point of view with Oldham having two claims for a penalty turned down in the opening ten minutes.

The Latics deservedly took the lead 17 minutes into the match. A simple pass down the right flank of the pitch found the Glovers defence far too static and Latics striker Chris Taylor in plenty of free space. He got even more free space to move across the face of goal and fire home from 18 yards out and into the top corner - fairly iffy defending but as the visitors grew into the match, a lead they totally deserved.

Oldham's tactic appeared to be to try to influence pantomime villain Trevor Kettle. Their early penalty appears suggested a tendency to 'go down easily' in an attempt to influence the officials, whilst Chris Taylor's decision to run 50 yards to get in the face of Luke Ayling after the right-back fouled Lewis Alessandra, and then in the face of Kettle when only a yellow card was produced. And then back to Ayling to try to wind him up a second time. Kettle eventually stepped in, but dished out just a finger-wagging to Taylor and Ayling.

Yeovil's main problem was that when Chris Taylor concentrated on his football, the Glovers were getting exposed badly in their 3-5-2 formation, with the Latics heading down the flanks - Andy Welsh's wing was particularly a problem for the Glovers to defend on. Hence with 10 minutes before the break, manager Terry Skiverton switched to a 4-4-2 with Max Ehmer moving out to a left-back position. That at least stabilised things a touch - a measure of Yeovil's poor half was that it took them 45 minutes to secure their first corner - they'd barely put a shot on Dean Brill's goal.

Another half time shuffle saw Nathan Smith replace Paul Huntington as the 4-4-2 was preserved, but with a more regular left-back in place. That saw the Glovers open the half well, with Jonathan Obika charging in from the right flank, and forcing Oldham keeper Dean Brill to save well with his legs. From the resultant corner, a Glovers shot was inches away from being deflected into his own net by a Latics defender.

The difference in Yeovil's performance in the second period was immense, with Oldham now under pressure, and another Jonathan Obika run tore the Oldham defence apart with his pace, only to be cut out just as he was pulling the trigger, with an excellent block tackle for a corner. Then from a Glovers set piece, Max Ehmer's header bounced down and in slow motion headed onto the post, bounced out and back into Dean Brill's grateful arms.

Matters though seemed to slip out of Yeovil's control when Luke Ayling tangled with Cedric Evina on the Main Stand side, and referee Trevor Kettle duly obliged by raising a second yellow card to the fury of the home crowd and to see Ayling dismissed for the second time by the same referee during this season, having already been dismissed up at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday in January.

That blow seemed to rock the Glovers a touch, even if referee Kettle sparked more abuse from the crowd when he pulled up Oli Johnson for a handball as he ran through on goal, despite the match official being entirely on the blind side of the Yeovil striker.

However, just as Yeovil seemed to be running a touch out of steam, ideas and time, with five minutes to go, they grabbed an equalising goal with one of those glorious moments at Huish Park. Having just become a father for the first time, you could forgive Andy Welsh if he had run out of steam before the game ran out. But playing in the right-wing position during the second period, he latched onto a loose ball on the angle from eight yards out and slipped the ball under Dean Brill. The keeper got half his body on the ball, and for one moment it seemed it wouldn't cross the line. But a defender's attempt to clear the ball happened just as it crossed the line, and the Glovers were thankfully level - with Welshy naturally celebrating in front of the home terrace with the 'rocking baby' motions.

Five minutes of normal time, and an inexplicable five minutes of 'Kettle time' saw Oldham try to push forward to grab the winner, but the Glovers kept their composure, with a back four being restored for the final minutes, as Andy Welsh trotted off to a standing ovation, allowing Craig Alcock to shore things up. The end result was a valuable point - with Walsall, Bristol Rovers, Swindon, Plymouth and Dagenham and Redbridge all losing, the bottom places are as you were, meaning that the Glovers now are eight points clear with four games remaining. Surely that is enough to guarantee League One football now?